Comment

Comments on stories are a way for All In The Mind listeners to contribute to and discuss the program.

Comments are moderated. Before you contribute, we recommend you read our house rules.

Reply

Author

Email

Date/Time

20 Mar 2018 1:30:55pm

Text

PreviousMessage

There is so much in this program that I will be pondering it for a while before I can make any proper comment, but two quick thoughts:One) in the intro, the 60's are described as flamboyant and revolutionary, playing into the idea we have of the 60's being all about the flower power generation. It was not. Especially the early sixties before the post- war generation had come of age, conservative Cold War values were still the dominant spirit. Even if we think of the Civil Rights movement, it was not populated by flower power, thank you very much.

The other is this idea that these experiments did not put the subjects in touch with their' inner evil' and that equating them with the perpetrators of the Holocaust was unfair..

Well who exactly WERE the perpetrators of the Holocaust? Do we think that ordinary people could not possibly have evil within them? Are we saying that evil comes only from monsters? Is that not the lesson of the Holocaust that this sort of thing is perpetrated by ordinary, nay some even quite idealistc and moral ..and yes banal people?

I am not sure these experiments are helpful, perhaps in understanding concentration camp guards who may have had a degree of seared conscience. But what about soldiers of both sides who were eyewitness or assisted or perpetrated in atrocity in the name of saving the world? What about those who are the craftsmen of torture even today? Are they all monsters?

I think if we understand that these subjects were ordinary human beings and that it was ONLY an experiment that allowed them to go against their own values and conscience then what do we make of those who have and a lot more pressure put on them to conform?

Please note that there is limit per post of 3,000 characters, including spaces, carriage returns and punctuation (about 500 words). Your email address will not be published.